Tag: medical mission

Shraddha Dalwadi Shraddha Dalwadi (1 Posts)

Contributing Writer Emeritus

Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine


Shraddha is a Class of 2016 medical student at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.




The Problem With Playing Doctor: A Critique of Student Medical Outreach from Within

“Is the pain sharp or dull?” I say to the teenaged translator next to me. Rolling her eyes, she quickly mutters something in Spanish to my distressed patient and then relays his response back in English. As she returns to texting on her cell phone, I make the final notes for this patient. Although I have reached the end of an extensive two-page history, I can’t help but feel completely unaccomplished. I’ve been told this …

Half of a Year, Halfway Across the World

Chennai, India. “How are you feeling?” I asked an elderly woman in Tamil, the local language.  She had recently been diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease at the hospital. I struggled to hide my excitement of finally being able to interact with an inpatient after three weeks of waiting for a “TB-free ward.” In the western world, we quarantine patients with tuberculosis; here they are one of the many patients in the general ward who are seen …

Getting it Right

Pharmacology is over. I sit in my house with the post-test buzz still ringing in my ear amid a rhythmic background of raindrops striking windowsills and cars sliding past outside. I doze, and the rain conjures afternoons in Borgne when the clinic visitors had slowed to a drip after the morning hubbub. The end of summer happened fast. At times I have to catch myself to remember that I am back in Rochester since the …

N’ap Kenbe / We’re Holding On

Something had happened. The hospital lies on the main stretch of road before the town of Borgne, right across from the high school, so there is always a lot of activity going on: cars going in and out of the hospital, motorbikes dropping off and picking up students, vendors selling food and cell phone credit. But this was different. The cries were not those typical of school-aged children. Plus, it was already 8 p.m., way …

Vegetarian Feasting in Guatemala

In the summer vegetables are plentiful, but I find that it’s not always obvious how to get the most out of them. Two summers ago, when I had a community-supported agriculture share and more vegetables than I knew what to do with, I found myself making some pretty inedible vegetable soups and longing for more substance. In previous years, I’ve been enamored with the same corn, tomatoes and salad every night. This summer, I’m in …

Haiti Reloaded

So as I wrap up a great weekend with some old friends, I finally have a minute to reflect on my first few days in Haiti, looking at the past and possibilities for the future. Being back in Haiti is always a shock to the senses. The second you leave the airport your senses are put on overdrive: the cacophony of cars and people; the hot, wet air; the smell of dust, trash and cane; …

Investing in Medicine Abroad

Let’s face it: practicing medicine overseas is pretty sexy. Whether it’s images of Angelina Jolie and Clive Owen in Cambodia, young French physicians working with Doctors Without Borders, or Paul Farmer in Russian prisons that make you think of international medicine, it all seems pretty cool. Oh yeah, we all have an altruistic motive in trying to help solve the perennial ills of tropical disease, unnecessary trauma and emergency cesarean sections, but there is something …

Sixteen Days

“I dream of being back in Huancavelica. In my dream, I was already there. Somehow I skipped all the flying and bus travelling. I was among the Andean mountains, hiking up to the highest peak, and looking down the gorgeous valley. From the horizon, the first blood-red ray of sunlight — untainted of any poison, undeterred of Spaniard conquistadors — rose behind the rugged mountains, painted a mural of warrior figures, llamas heads, potato fields, and …

Eating Soup With a Fork: My Sign-Out from Rural Tanzania

22 June  Jambo! Leaving today. A bit apprehensive considering how busy I have been and how unprepared I feel.   13 July: Day 1 I’d be lying if I told you I imagined my first day to be anything like this. Everything leading up to today made me think that this externship was an opportunity to see some very interesting cases, while conducting my hypertension research in a modern, Swiss training facility in rural Tanzania. …

John Purakal John Purakal (1 Posts)

Contributing Writer Emeritus

Wayne State University School of Medicine


John is a Class of 2014 medical student. He is actively involved and spearheaded projects within groups focused on international medicine and public health. He hopes to continue conducting research and implementing population-specific interventions to educate and remove barriers to self-efficacy in his professional career.